A special performance titled “Striking the Same Chord: The Meeting of Chinese Kunqu and Hungarian Opera” was held in Budapest on July 12. Chinese Ambassador to Hungary Gong Tao, Istvan Ujhelyi, chairman of the EU-China One Belt One Road Culture and Tourism Development Committee, Levente Horvath, president of the Hungarian-Chinese Youth Friendship Association, and Wang Rudong, director of the China Cultural Center in Budapest, attended the event and delivered remarks. Nearly 200 people, including Yang Xiuhua, counselor at the Chinese Embassy in Hungary, and representatives from various sectors of China and Hungary, attended the event.

Gong said the performance brought Chinese Kunqu Opera and Hungarian opera together on the same stage, showcasing the distinctive charm of the two countries’ traditional arts and highlighting the contemporary significance of exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations and their harmonious coexistence. He expressed hope that the event would serve as an opportunity to deepen China-Hungary people-to-people and cultural exchanges, promote mutual understanding and affinity between the two peoples, and inject fresh vitality into their friendship.

Ujhelyi and Horvath said that although Chinese and Hungarian theatrical traditions differ in form, both embody their respective histories and national memories. They expressed hope that people in the two countries would come to know each other better through the arts, strengthen mutual trust while respecting differences, and lay a solid foundation of public support for long-term bilateral cooperation.